Kayo Hinazuki sat quietly on a bench outside Mobara Park, observing the people surrounding her. This was off-season for the park, which was notorious for its gorgeous cherry blossoms in the spring, so it was more deserted than usual. Most of its inhabitants were high school children passing through on their way home from classes. It was peaceful, watching them in their carefree ways as they joked with one another throughout the paths.

"Kayo-chan!"

She turned to the direction of the voice, which resonated over the shouts of the children. Hiromi was darting towards her. She waved to him - in no time at all he collapsed on the bench beside her, doubled over and out of breath. He was still dressed in scrubs, likely having just come from his internship at the hospital. Kayo caught the confused stares of the high school students, then leaned toward her boyfriend. "Are you okay, Hiromi-kun?"

He took two more gasping breaths before replying. "Have you been waiting long?"

She shook her head. "No, I just got here." She was lying. But saying she had been here for half an hour would just make Hiromi feel bad, and she had enjoyed the time. In this instance, she found it better to lie. "Let's take a break."

She waited for him to regain his composure, telling him about her day at the university. When he perked back up, he eagerly relayed to her everything that had happened at his internship. Hiromi adored the hospital. Kayo enjoyed his excitement. She didn't imagine she had the resolve to be a doctor, and she admired Hiromi as he told the stories.

When there was a break in the conversation, Hiromi said, "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure!"

Hiromi had come up with their agenda for the night. They headed to the supermarket to pick up supplies for dinner. They had decided on making okonomiyaki, as Hiromi could cook the pork and Kayo was skilled at making crepes. Then with their bags in hand they made their way to the Fujinuma household.

Sachiko's eyes lit up as she opened the door to the couple. Kayo had called earlier in the week to make sure she would be available, but Sachiko's thrilled expression was like one who was getting a surprise visitor. Kayo hugged her for a long time, and Sachiko held her until Kayo chose to let go.

"Thank you for coming," Sachiko said. "And for volunteering to make dinner! This will be a treat."

"It's our pleasure," said Hiromi. He looked down at Kayo. "I'll put the ingredients in the refrigerator for now. You go ahead, okay?"

She nodded. Sachiko escorted her into the bedroom, where through a partition she saw Satoru laying dormant in a hospital bed. A record of soothing classical music was playing for him today. He appeared older since she had visited him last, several months ago. But he was still Satoru - even underneath the respirator fastened to his face. Kayo smiled and approached him, gingerly touching his hand with her own, before sitting with Sachiko beside him.

Sachiko began to update Kayo on her own life, and Satoru's medical details since they had last spoken. She expressed how much she missed Kayo, who apologized for not stopping by more.

"No, I know it must be hard," Sachiko said with a grin. "With classes and everything - and how emotional it is to come here."

But this was Sachiko's entire life. It wasn't something she could escape whenever she wanted, like Kayo could. Kayo could ignore the pain for awhile when it came up. Sachiko was confronting it. "It's no excuse. You're so brave, Sachiko-san."

Sachiko placed a hand on Kayo's. They shared that moment before Sachiko asked in a whisper, "How are things with Hiromi-kun?"

Kayo felt herself flush. "It's...it's going really well, actually," she finally said. "He's so kind. We've become a lot closer. I've actually been thinking a lot lately, and I think - "

Suddenly Hiromi stepped into the room with a melodic, "Good evening, Satoru-kun!" Kayo clamped her mouth shut and spun towards Hiromi, who froze in place as he looked from her reddened expression to Sachiko's sly grin. "Er, I'm interrupting something, aren't I?"

"No, no, sit down!" Kayo said hastily, patting the stool to her side. Hiromi fumbled into the seat, saying nothing until Sachiko began to ask about his family and internship. Hiromi tousled his hair gleefully as he filled her in.

Meanwhile, Kayo sat back in her chair. She smiled as Hiromi told Sachiko the things he had accomplished. He was so excited about doing well in his exams - and she was so proud of him, too.

Her eyes moved to Satoru, unresponsive in his bed. They hadn't shared words in over ten years now. Kayo came often - not as often as she would have liked, of course - and had plenty of one-way conversations with him. The mittens she had knitted him long ago lay on the table beside him, too small to fit now that he was a grown man, albeit thinned from his state. She had thought often about how she felt when she had stayed up to make those mittens. She recalled wanting to give them to him as a sign of thanks for all he did - for making her feel safe and loved, for rescuing her. For being her hero.

She had known all along that it had been love that urged her to continue working the yarn into those mittens. The way he protected her and had once called her cute… She remembered those times and held them dear in her memories. They had made her feel airy when she thought of them before the incident, and empty when those thoughts came up after she wasn't able to talk with him.

She then turned her attention to Hiromi, who was listening intently to Sachiko's updates and asking for details on Satoru's condition. As her eyes rested on him, her mind began to drift into the past…

As they were about to enter their senior year of high school, Hiromi had invited their friend group to a movie. Only later did Kayo learn that Kenya had immediately gathered everyone other than her and Hiromi and un-invited them for Hiromi's sake. When they realized no one else was coming to the film, Hiromi sheepishly asked if she would want to go on a date instead.

Out of politeness, Kayo had agreed.

For the longest time Kayo struggled to see Hiromi as anything other than the young boy she had met in the fifth grade. He was still painstakingly shy, unlike Satoru, yet happy-go-lucky. Even on their date, where they tried to craft a giant snowman, Kayo remained in this mindset. They were friends, and it was certainly fun, but she didn't see him as someone she could date. And at the foundation of everything, there was Satoru to consider. As he walked her home, she decided that she would decline the invitation to another date.

But he didn't ask her. "I had fun tonight, thank you," he said, and began on his journey home.

In fact, it didn't come up again.

For weeks she spent her free time repeating the day in her mind, anxiously wondering if she had done something to disinterest him. And what could it be? Yet when they were around one another, he still talked to her as though everything were normal. It was as though the date hadn't happened at all.

Not knowing was enraging her. In her final class one day, bored at the subject, she was once again replaying the night in her head. She still couldn't piece together an answer. So she got up as class continued, and departed for Keikoku High - Hiromi's school.

She was waiting in front of the building as the students filed out. As soon as she saw Hiromi, she jumped up and ran towards him. "Ah!" he cried, backing away. "H-Hinazuki-san! What are you doing here…?"

"Are you stupid?" Kayo grumbled. "Why didn't you ask me on another date?"

Several Keikoku High students turned towards them. Hiromi turned red. "H...Huh?"

"You heard me."

"Ah…" He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at the students around him. "Can we discuss this elsewhere?"

He led her to a large, snow-covered tree near the bike racks on the other side of the school. This area was deserted. Kayo stared at the tree. It reminded her of one she had once seen with Satoru.

"Hinazuki-san…" he began, but Kayo said, "I mean, who does that? I was just left completely in the dark. What do you even want, Hiromi-kun?"

"Hinazuki-san," he said again. And he looked at her directly, his deep blue eyes suddenly bold. "I didn't think it was something you wanted at the time."

She faltered. "Huh?"

He grinned somberly, but his eyes didn't leave hers. "I guess I screwed up, because I thought I could tell what you were thinking. But you didn't seem really interested in our date, so I thought I would hold off until you were. I do want to go on another date with you. I just wanted to wait to ask until you wanted that too." He sighed. "I'm sorry for upsetting you."

Was this the same Hiromi? Kayo stared. It was if he had matured in front of her. He spoke humbly yet confidently, his eyes not wavering from her own. And what was this - suddenly her racing thoughts over these few weeks began to slow. She felt relieved. And happy. And...what was this other thought?

When she said nothing, Hiromi asserted, "I just want whatever you want. I want you to be happy, Hinazuki-san."

The feeling fell upon her suddenly. In that moment it was so clear - this was something she had felt so often around Satoru. Wait, no...she had felt it ever since she had been taken away from her mother ten years ago. But she continued to ignore it, certain that this feeling could not exist without Satoru in her life.

She felt safe.

And as she looked into Hiromi's eyes, she realized all at once that she had felt safe even after Satoru was gone. Yes, so much of it was due to the consequences of Satoru's bravery: it was because of him that her mother was out of the picture and she now had great friendships. But even after that, Hiromi had guarded her in Satoru's absence. As he had just said, he wanted her to be happy. She began to recall their interactions over the years as Hiromi graciously cared for her. He was never demanding and always patient with her.

What Kayo had always taken as passivity she began to recognize as his kindness towards her and wanting to wait until she felt comfortable. But he always had her best interest in mind…he was always going out of his way to try and be her hero.

That day Kayo had agreed to a second date - and eventually a third and fourth, and these days they had both lost count of how many had occurred. So many dates were impromptu get-togethers for lunch or studying now. Kayo just loved spending time with Hiromi. Over the years together she grew to value his kindness and patience.

In her childhood, she had been without love. She only began to experience it for the first time when Satoru came into her life. Then he was ripped away from her. Now Hiromi was here to clean up the wounds, and he did so wonderfully. In a way that seemed unconditional he cared for her. And he was aware of the way she had felt for Satoru, so he took his time with her. She knew he always waited for her to show that she was comfortable with him. He was able to love her in the ways she had missed out her entire life.

What Kayo had been thinking about lately - what she had been about to tell Sachiko - was that she had come to realize that she had fallen in love with Hiromi too.

That wasn't to say she stopped loving the boy in the hospital bed. No, she still yearned to talk to him - and she would still love him when he awoke. But that romantic type of love she had suspected had dissipated over the years. It was a new type of love. Now when she turned her attention to Hiromi, she saw the kindness that made the foundation for his bravery and care. When she looked at him, she began to daydream about what it could be like to marry a man as great as him.

Hiromi caught her stare. Kayo smiled, and he returned it with warmth. There he went again, trying to read her mind - but this time, it seemed he was right. And she was grateful for her hero.

Thank you again for reading! I hope you didn't find it too fast-paced; I don't usually write short stories so fitting everything into two chapters was difficult for me! But I hope you enjoyed reading!

Rin